Girls on the Run

Getting Out of the Girl Box

(03-15-2007 - Akron, OH) If you’re a woman past her teenage years, you probably know about the Girl Box. It’s the place where you try to fit in with the crowd, convinced that what you look like is more important than who you are. It’s the place where your changing body is a source of confusion and you’re not sure whether to feel like a kid or an adult. Do you remember?
Molly Barker, a four-time Hawaii Ironman Triathlete, coined the term Girl Box. She recalls her own adolescent confusion: “I was desperately wanting to be liked by the beautiful crowd—popular with the boys,” says Barker.” But I couldn't fit into the box the world placed over the spark of my spirit… So I ran. I'd strap on those running shoes and head for the woods, the streets, wherever my feet would take me. I felt Beautiful. Strong. Powerful. I felt a part of something greater than myself.”
Barker, who now holds a holds a masters in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, grew up and founded Girls on the Run to “shatter the Girl Box.” The program, beginning at the Shaw JCC of Akron this spring, provides girls grades 3-5 with warmups and workouts that increase self-esteem and encourage emotional, social, mental and physical development.
Shaw JCC Fitness Director Daniella Piscitello and Shaw JCC Board member Robyn Cutler will lead Girls on the Run at the JCC. Piscitello and Cutler, after attending a three day training session in North Carolina last fall, are both certified Girls on the Run coaches.

The first Girls on the Run program at the Shaw JCC will include 20 sessions, all on Monday and Thursday afternoons, beginning March 5 and continuing through May 31; girls will also prepare for the Children’s Hospital 2006 Kids are Number One Run 5K on Sunday, June 3. Although Piscitello and Cutler anticipate more Girls on the Run programs in the future, the first session will include just 12 girls in grades 3-5. Registration for Shaw JCC members begins Monday, February 12; if available, registration for the general public begins on Monday, February 19. The cost is $50 for each girl, and payment is required upon registration.

Would you like to help your girl break out of the Girl Box? To learn more about Girls on the Run and to register, please call Daniella Piscitello at 330-835-0057 or email her at daniella_piscitello@jewishakron.org.

For more info, contact:

Daniella Piscitello
Fitness Director
750 White Pond Drive
Akron, OH 44320
Phone: 330-835-0057
E-mail: daniella_piscitello@jewishakron.org

The Shaw JCC of Akron, founded in 1920, creates community based on Jewish values in by providing quality programs and services in a safe and secure environment for people of all ages. The Shaw JCC is open to all members of our community without regard to race, gender, religious preference, marital, or economic status. Our 60-acre community campus, located at 750 White Pond Drive, is home to the Shaw JCC as well as the Jewish Community Board of Akron, Jewish Family Service, and the Jerome Lippman Jewish Community Day School.